1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and apparatus for the use of cooking oil and, more particularly, relates to systems and apparatus for the distribution, filtering, removal, and disposal of cooking oil.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The business of supplying cooking oil to facilities to prepare foods of all types and recycling waste oil is extensive. To a great extent kitchen facilities employ antiquated techniques resulting in cleanliness problems and exposing kitchen workers to significant hazards. Fryer cooking oil is typically contained either as a liquid in jugs of 35 pounds of weight or more or as a solid in paper cardboard boxes with a plastic liner. The oil is generally stored in location near the cooking facility and manually brought to and emptied into the cooking or frying vat. The empty containers, i.e., jugs or cardboard box containers and plastic liners, then are returned to storage for ultimate disposal in a dumpster. The containers occupy considerable volume and often necessitate frequent emptying of the dumpster, an extra cost to business.
The weight of the full containers, usually 35 to 50 pounds in weight, requires that the worker have sufficient strength to carry the container to the frying vat and pour the contents into the vat. The requirement of such strength frequently prevents assigning such jobs to smaller, less physically strong, personnel. Even when personnel capable of handling the containers are used, spillage often occurs. This is not only undesirable from a health point of view but is a physical hazard due to the slickness of the oil on the floor as workers continue to do their job, often in close proximity to cooking equipment heated to elevated temperatures.
When solid shortening is used, the container housing a fifty pound cube of shortening is opened and portions of the shortening removed from the container, placed in a small pan or bucket, then carried to and dropped into the fryer vessel. The fryer itself may be empty and the solid shortening heated and thus melted to the desired temperature. Frequently, however, the fryer vessel may be partially filled with hot oil and the additional solid dropped into it. The impact of the solid shortening with the heated oil causes splashing, an extremely undesirable occurrence.
During the cooking process it is desirable to eliminate the carbonized food particles that become impregnated in the liquid oil during use. A typical and the simplest way to accomplish the filtering is to drain the hot oil (300.degree. F. to 375.degree. F.) into a pan rectangular or circular, for example, usually about 2 feet in diameter with sides and an open top. The pan will have a filter screen in the bottom and a pump on top. The pump sucks the oil through the filter and discharges the oil back into the body of the oil located in the pan. An agglomerating agent such as magnesium silicate may be added to agglomerate carbon particles into larger particles to facilitate filtering. Following a typical circulation through, e.g., about 5 to 15 minutes, the recycled oil is then discharged into a fryer from the pan. Another technique employs a mobile filter that can be attached directly to the fryer drain and a pump that may continuously recirculate the oil through the filter. Typical recycling requirements necessitate the oil to be filtered as often as three or four times daily with concomitant cleaning or disposal of the filter elements.
Cooking oil does degrade after a period of time due to continuous exposure to the atmosphere and various food constituents under elevated temperature conditions and must be discarded. When this occurs the waste oil is typically drained from the fryer, usually at elevated temperatures, into a container that is carried by hand to a disposal tank at the rear of the facility housing the cooking installation. The high temperatures of the oil expose the worker to possible burns of a severe nature should the skin come into contact with the heated oil. During removal of the hot oil from the kitchen area, spilling frequently occurs with flow behind the equipment itself. Tracking of the oil into the dining area from the kitchen facility is the inevitable result.
The waste cooking oil in the disposal tank is generally picked up at time intervals, generally 4 to 6 weeks, by a waste oil dealer with the frequency depending upon the amount of discharge by the cooking oil user. The waste oil can then be recycled into other useful products. The disposal tank is usually located in an area easily accessible to rodents and the like. Thus, aside from being unsightly and subject to spillage, it often poses a health hazard.
Various apparatus and processes have been devised to eliminate or minimize some of the problems discussed above. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,046 issued on Nov. 23, 1982 to Streit et al, describes a device to rid the cooking facilities of waste fatty oil including a means for maintaining the waste in liquid form for ease of handling. A similar type of apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,831 issued on Dec. 4, 1984 to Ungerleider.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,206 issued on Dec. 4, 1990 to Turman describes a cooking oil filtering method in which the oil in the cooking vats is circulated through a filter and then back to the vats. Many of the carbonized food particles are removed minimizing contamination of the oil and permitting use thereof. The cleaning process is automated to take place at regular intervals.
Still another U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,793 issued Mar. 3, 1987 to Sherratt describes a system in which the oil is distributed from a holding tank to the cooking vat as needed and removed from the vat when deemed to be waste to a locked tank that can be emptied from time to time.
None of the references above provide for a simple and economical system and apparatus. For example, the prior art is devoid of systems and apparatus that provide for the distribution, filtering and removal of oil in a manner that collectively and completely avoids the problems caused by the (i) handling of the oil initially, (ii) handling when at elevated temperatures, (iii) filtering of the oil at selected intervals, and (iv) disposing of the oil at selected intervals.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a process and system eliminating the manual handling of cooking oil in cooking establishments
It is another object of the present invention to eliminate the wasteful use of plastic and paper receptacles containing liquid or solid cooking oil products.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide for a system having an improved filtering capability.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for a portable apparatus embodying the system of the present invention that can hold and distribute fresh oil, filter and recirculate used oil, and store and eliminate waste oil.
These and further objectives are accomplished by the system and apparatus of the present invention and will be best understood through a reading of the ensuing detailed description accompanied by the drawings.